15 killed in China coalmine accident

August 26, 2005 12:29 IST

At least 15 miners were killed when a gas explosion ripped through a coal mine in Renhuai city in China's Guizhou Province, the local government said on Friday. The accident took place at Zhulinwan Coal Mine, a newly built coal-producing base on Thursday when 21 miners were working beneath the shaft.

Only two miners managed to escape the accident, Xinhua news agency quoted officials from Guizhou Provincial Bureau of Coal Mine Safety as saying. Rescue workers on Friday successfully rescued four miners and found remains of six others killed in the accident. The local police was searching the owner of the Zhulinwan Coal Mine, who has disappeared after the accident.

Rescue operations are still going on, the report said, adding that the cause of the accident is under investigation.

China, the world's largest coal producer, has witnessed a series of major mine accidents in recent months amid an unprecedented energy crunch.